


Amazing Graceless

by blackeyedqueen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-09
Packaged: 2018-01-08 02:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1127124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackeyedqueen/pseuds/blackeyedqueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about Cas is he isn’t dumb. He’s graceless, no mojo, strangely vulnerable as this human, but he’s still got his wits about him; he’s still smart. So learning to play the piano shouldn’t be that hard. Except it definitely is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amazing Graceless

The thing about Cas is he isn’t dumb. He’s graceless, no mojo, strangely vulnerable as this human, but he’s still got his wits about him; he’s still smart. So learning to play the piano shouldn’t be that hard. Except it definitely is.

Reading the music isn’t the problem. Cas learned where middle C was and basically went from there. Every step upward on the staff was another note higher; D,E,F,G,A,B and then C again but an octave higher. And every step down was another note lower. Learning the notes on the bass clef seemed trickier, but Cas managed. He learned this symbol on this line means these notes are flat, and this symbol means sharp, and this word means louder and this means softer, and this time signature means this many beats in a measure, and these notes are whole and these notes are half and these notes are eighth and so on, and this curve that goes from here to here ties them all together.

Cas stares intently at the papers spread out in front of him, reads them like he’s reading the words of a story. He can hear how it’s supposed to sound in his head, hums along as he goes.

There’s a little nervous flutter in his chest as he’s finally going to actually play something. Cas spent the better part of the past few days studying music and how it’s written and read. It’s like planning out a battle and finally putting the plan in action.

Cas takes in a deep breath, his fingers tentatively resting on the keys, and then he exhales, closes his eyes, presses down on the keys and…

The worst noise Castiel has ever heard escapes the piano in front of him. 

His eyes snap open, quickly assessing the situation, trying to find his mistake, eyes flicking quickly back and forth between his fingers and the paper. 

Ah, that’s right this means sharp for these and for these, and this finger should actually be over here, and this one on this key…

Cas readjusts his fingers, splayed out in an awkward position and takes entirely too long to reposition them for the next set of notes. His fingers are slow and jerky and stretched out too far and telling his left hand to do one thing and his right to do a completely different thing is kind of splitting his brain in half.

But he keeps at it for a good twenty minutes, only getting about 5 measures in, letting out frustrated growls before repositioning his fingers and starting over every few seconds.

Dean and Sam are in another room, Dean scanning the paper and Sam scrolling endlessly on his laptop, and they hear every minute of it. Every harsh ring of a wrong note, Dean’s whole body tensed, eyes closing, huffing out a loud sigh. 

"Sam, if you don’t go get your boyfriend away from that damned piano, I will," Dean finally grinds out. 

Sam, fully anticipating this response from his brother, quickly gets to his feet. Maybe Sam himself was debating heading over to Cas, Dean’s insistence being the final push that got him up and moving down the hall. 

Sam stands in the door way, the scene before him just this side of adorable. Cas is hunched over the keys, staring angrily at the sheet in front of him, eyes squinting hard and huffing angrily as he stretched his fingers more than they were comfortable going. The corner of Sam’s mouth curves up as he leans on the door frame and watches Cas lick his lips before pressing down on the keys again. 

Sam moves himself up behind Cas, resting his hands on the man’s shoulders before gently kneading them through the thing red hoodie.

Cas drops his hands from the piano, sighing and leaning into the touch of the familiar strong hands. He tilts his head back so he can look up into Sam’s still smiling face. The face looks sympathetic. Cas frowns. “That bad, huh?”

Sam breathes out a small chuckle, “Oh no no. It’s just…” Sam bends down to look at what Cas is trying to play and no wonder he’s having such a hard time. “Holy shit, Cas.”

He picks up the sheet and looks at it more closely. It’s a piece Sam’s never heard of, the notes are all over the place, the runs are out of this world and the the chords demand all five fingers stretched insanely and a time signature Sam can’t really wrap his head around. Sam doesn’t know much about reading sheet music, knew a girl in college that taught him a few things, but it’s clear this piece isn’t for beginners.

"Cas, where in the world did you find this?"

"The internet," he states simply.

"Alright, well let’s try something," Sam says gently tapping Cas on the arm getting him to rise from the bench. Sam thinks it might be a common thing that piano benches have seats that can be removed to reveal a storage place for music, and he’s relived to find that’s the case with this bench. 

Cas deflates, a little disappointed in himself. He feels like he should have been able to notice that. The disappointment doesnt last he perks up a little when Sam pulls out a thick leather bound book; a hymnal. 

The seat of the bench is replaced and the two of them sit together, with Sam to the right, shoulder leaning firm into Cas’s and absorbing the heat through the layers of clothes. Cas, so frustrated minutes ago, can’t help but let the tension fall when Sam’s near, calm and patient as always. 

He watches Sam’s fingers flip lightly through the book, searching. Sam finds what he’s looking for, places the open book over Cas’s printed out pages, and says, “Look at this one. Simpler.” 

When Cas doesn’t move to play the song, Sam lifts his fingers to the keys instead.

And Cas is pretty surprised. it’s beautiful, of course it’s beautiful. It’s simple, pretty, and even the fingers themselves are pretty as they move effortlessly about the keys, almost flowing. 

It’s a tune Cas recognizes, so he sings along, quietly. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…”

Sam smiles as his angel (still his angel, always his angel), sings along next to him, the deep gravelly voice quiet enough that only he can hear.

They get through all five verses, Sam joining in singing quietly for the last two. When they’re done, Sam smiles down at Cas and the man looks back at him in awe.

"I had no idea you could play any instrument, let alone this one," Cas says as a smile plays at the corners of his mouth. "You make it look so easy," he says, now sporting a fake pout and Sam chuckles again, flashing his dimples.

"Well, it’s more from memory than anything. It’s pretty much the only song I know."

Sam runs his comforting hand up and down Cas’s back a few times before wrapping his arm around the broad shoulders. Cas sighs and leans into the touch again.

"Let’s take it slow," Sam says. "We’ll start with the right hand. I’ll play it up here and then you play it down there. Okay?"

Cas nods and Sam rests his head on the shoulder and begins to play the first few measures, singing the words with his ex angel as he goes; ” Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.”


End file.
